


White noise

by MenteEnBlanco



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-02
Updated: 2018-03-02
Packaged: 2019-03-26 03:29:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13849146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MenteEnBlanco/pseuds/MenteEnBlanco
Summary: "Oh, great dark city.Let me forget.I will not cometo you again."—Langston Hughes.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> HEY! Woah, it's been a long time since I wrote in english, but hopefully I'll practice a lot this year! This series is for the "Monthly Writing Challenges" of March, y'all can join the Discord server too and have a lot of fun!
> 
> As I said, I'm not a native speaker so there may be weird phrasing and mistakes, let me know!

**Take my hand.**

Jason lets out a snarl and twists his body out of the way so the replacement's attack doesn't hit him. He takes advantage of his momentum to send them tumbling to the ground, and does his level best to keep Tim pinned under him. Kid's strong, despite looking like an awkward stick it makes Jason wonder if Alfred ever feds him. He even manages to punch Jason so hard he can feel his cheek bleed.

But Jason is big, and angry. So he hits enough times to leave Tim wheezing in a puddle of blood. Then he stands, the world moving under him, green and broken at the edges. He extends his hand and thinks of something to say, to explain the things that run through his head. That he misses Bruce too, that he can't be Batman, but he can  _try_. Replacement should know that feeling, he thinks. He  _must_ , and if Tim is by his side, maybe they both can make a good parody of this show.

It's a stupid idea. But one that Jason  _needs_. Keeping the darkness at bay by himself is going to get him killed again —it's killing him  _already_.

So he licks his lips, stretches his fingers and  _hopes_.

"Take my hand, be my Robin."

In the ground, Tim makes a sound between a sob and a wail. Jason flinches too, the words too raw, too unexpected. He almost laughs at the irony of it all, but he's too angry for that.

It feels like an eternity of waiting, but Tim breathes the word "No."

And Jason could swear, if he had a mind, that he does not want to kill  _this_   _kid_. He does it, anyway. Of course. Like the monster life has made of him, he destroys this child's life even more. The batarang is in his hand, and then it isn't —is in Tim's body— in the blink of an eye. Death wants more death, and all that crappy bullshit Jason's always loved. He swallows, but the voices and the pure greedy anger in his veins doesn't let him think about  _this_. There's no time to question himself.

Everything is an explosion of green and red after that.


	2. Crystal clear

The  _click_  of the shutter startles him, even though he was the one to press it. He cannot help it, the nervousness that comes with breaking so many rules. With the fear of getting caught so far from his home, of someone calling his  _mom_  and— Tim shakes himself and forces a breath into his lungs. He  _will not_  get caught. He studied this patrol route, and the best way to approach it without interfering for a  _month_. There are no variables he hasn't considered, and this  _is_  the safest hole to hide in all Chinatown.

He can hear the chattering below, the unsteady roof moving with vibrations that come from a party.  _That_  alone is almost enough to overwhelm him, but he's there to gather important information.

(That's how he calls it anyway, there's no tactical use for Robin and Batman's pics, because Tim isn't planning on anything.)

While he waits, the wind biting red marks in his cheeks, he takes a few shots of the dark sky in contrast with the people below. Red, gold and green splattering against the deep blue above. It looks pretty, Tim thinks. He also thinks Gotham is a lot of things that are not  _pretty_  by any means.

His thoughts are cut by laughter from the rooftop three buildings away. Tim freezes, camera sliding from his hands for a second, before he reacts and scrambles to angle it right. Robin stands, face towards the sky, smiling and talking to a shadow. Tim presses his finger down, the  _click_  too loud even above all the noise. For a second, he fears the worst. But Robin keeps smiling, and jumps to another roof too high to see from Tim's position, without giving signs of having heard.

He breathes, in and out, shaking like a leaf, and looks down at the camera. The picture is not as artistic as the object deserves, but it strikes Tim all the same. Red, gold and green against the sky, smiling. It feels like the first time he took a photograph, like winning his mother's approval or eating candy for dinner.

He smiles.

Robin tastes like hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, it's a bit out of the prompt, but I think this is a moment that meant a lot for Tim, and bought clarity over what kind of person he wanted to be. After all, in more than one way, Batman and Robin shaped him.
> 
> Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> You can comment in the tiny box below, and if you want to join the net, leave your Tumblr too!


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